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THE DUTIES OF SOCIETY.

The duty of the family, and especially of the parent, is, no doubt, more immediate; and accordingly its fulfilment has in some measure been secured by an innate feeling, which, although weakened or misdirected in almost every instance, is yet exterminated, or entirely perverted, only where vulgar degradation has reached its lowest ebb, or fashionable corruption its highest tide. But whilst this feeling is so deeply engrafted in the human bosom, that there is hardly a parent to be found wholly indifferent to the fate of his child, the fulfilment of the duty which it involves presupposes such a variety of moral qualifications, of intellectual acquirements, and even of outwardly favourable circumstances, on the part of the parents, that by far the greater number of them are not able to discharge their obligations in this respect, however strongly they may feel them. It devolves then upon society, as the claimant upon the future services of their children, to assist those parents who are willing themselves to lend a helping hand in the education of their children, and altogether to take the place of those who entirely neglect it, either from the straitness of their circumstances, or from moral torpor or dissipation.

But if, what seems almost impossible after so simple and so conclusive an argument, any doubt should be left concerning the duty which society has to discharge towards the rising generation,-if there be any that do not wish to follow principles, without the evidence of facts,-let me appeal to the grievous facts which the present state of this country exhibits. Let any one take an attentive survey of the present condition of society; let him carefully examine the motives and feelings by which the great mass of the population are guided in their transactions; let him look at the overbearing influence of covetousness, and selfishness in every other garb, by which men are led away, at the expense of honest principles and generous sentiments; let him cast up the sum of dishonesty and immorality which is with impunity committed, because not amenable

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CONSEQUENCES OF NEGLECTING THEM.

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to the law of the land; let him add to this the sum of vices and crimes which escape the avenging arm of justice, daily and hourly stretched out upon the perpetrators; and let him complete this sad account by the number of those who are every year doomed to more or less protracted wretchedness, or to an untimely death; let any one, I say, cast his eye upon this disgusting and deplorable scenelet him, on one hand, trace to their origin those evils, by which the very vitals of society are infected, and observe, on the other, their rapid and progressive increase; will he dare to deny, that it is the hand of God avenging upon society the neglect of its duties to the rising generations ? Of all the laws laid down by God for the government of the moral world, there is none that can be violated with impunity; and in his justice and his wisdom he has so ordered it, that the more sacred the trust, the more terrible will be the vengeance upon those that disregard it.

But where, it may be asked, is the proof that society does neglect its duties to the rising generation? Are not our ears daily filled with the praise of this happy and enlightened age, on account of its extensive exertions in the cause of education? I will not now be fastidious, and find fault with this or that system; I will, for a moment, suppose all education that is given, to have a truly good and moral tendency; and will merely ask, what proportion of the children of this country receive any education whatever? The number of children of the poorer classes in England (for of the other two kingdoms we have not even sufficient data to form an estimate) amounts, according to the latest calculation, to about two millions, not in cluding those under five, nor those above twelve years of age. Of this number, there are one million attending at day schools of different descriptions; the Sabbath schools belonging to the Establishment count about half a million of scholars; and those conducted by different dissenting denominations contain an equal number. At the same time,

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FACTS PROVING THE NEGLECT.

it is to be observed, that more than one half of the children attending on Sabbath schools, do also frequent day schools, so that they appear twice in the above statement. From these data it follows, that of the children of the poor in England there is but one fourth that receive instruction both during the week and on the Sabbath; one fourth who are under tuition on week days, but not on the Sabbath ; one fourth, who, attending upon Sabbath schools only, are left without instruction during the whole week; and one fourth who receive no education whatever, either in the week or on the Sabbath. It need not be added, that the parents who neglect to bring their children into contact with any of the public means of education, are not likely to supply that deficiency themselves, so that the inference is incontestable that the whole of the last named five hundred thousand children are growing up in the abodes of utter physical and moral destitution, and, worse than that, in the haunts of vice and criminality. Is it credible that a community calling itself a Christian community, nay, one that lays claim to the Christian character par excellence, should allow half a million of human beings to grow up, year after year, in its bosom, without any means being adopted to bring them to a consciousness of their state, and of their destination, and to a knowledge of the means which God has appointed for them, and the duties which he has imposed upon them, with a view to lead them to the attainment of the purpose of their lives? And is it to be supposed that so fearful a neglect of the most sacred duty will pass by unpunished? Or shall we doubt a moment, that the overwhelming flood of immorality, vice, and crime, which is setting in upon the framework of society, is the vengeance of God upon a nation, which, in the amply folded garb of profession, commits the most profane desecration of his holy purpose, in the dereliction of thousands and thousands of those little ones, whom He has commanded us to receive in his name?

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LECTURE II.

CONTINUATION OF THE SAME SUBJECT.

I HAVE, in the last lecture, attempted to shew, on the ground of history, in what light the relative duties of the family, and of society at large, concerning the education of their children, have been viewed at different times, and by different nations; and I have likewise endeavoured to prove, on the mere ground of social principles, and of the selfinterest of the community, that the latter has a decided duty to assist and even to substitute parents in the discharge of the trust which is laid upon them, to bring up their children in a manner conducive to their own welfare and to that of the whole community. But, as I observed. at the commencement of this subject, there is another ground on which it may be considered, besides that of mere human policy. Our question, to be satisfactorily answered, must be viewed in the light of religion; we must ask"What are the rights and duties of a Christian family, and of a Christian community, respecting the education of those children which God has confided to their care ?"

It is impossible for us entirely to separate our views on education from those religious considerations which, in a Christian country, more or less influence every department of life, and accordingly this string has been occasionally

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CHRISTIAN VIEW OF THE SUBJECT:

touched upon already in the first lecture. But there is a vast difference between a religious bias of our views on education, given, as it were, by a sidewind, from an inevitable association in our thoughts and feelings, and a view of education essentially founded upon the principles of religion. The former must, in a measure, cleave to the theories and practice of every one that has been brought up in a land which is under the influence of revelation, so much so, that I question whether even an infidel, however violently struggling against all that savours of religion, can entirely rid himself, in his system of education, of those associations and impressions, which he has imbibed in early life, and which are daily recalled to his mind and feelings by a thousand surrounding influences. On the other hand, education, essentially founded upon the principles of religion, requires so spiritual and vital an apprehension, not of the words and doctrines, but of the power and life of religion, that its theory and its practice are but rarely to be met with even among the religious, and most rarely of all, I fear, among those who most pride themselves in doctrinal superiority. It would be unjust and presumptuous to deny that approaches-very near ones, perhaps, in some instances have now and then been made to what might be called the ideal of Christian education; but it is certain, that the most popular systems fall far short of this pattern; nay, I would say more; it appears to me that we are only now on the eve of that period of Christian development, at which it will be possible to make the application of the principles of Christianity to general education. One of the reasons I have to form this opinion, is the confusion of terms and ideas which pervades the different sects and parties on that subject, which to me indicates the approach of a clearer and more enlightened epoch; for in the march of human civilization, as well as in the course of nature, every purest sky is preceded by a night of storm, and every brightest sunbeam by the gathering of clouds.

Taking this view of the subject, I am well aware that

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